Hat-felting machine



(No Model.)

W. AJBAGLIN. HAT PELTI-HG MAGHINB.

1%.. 245,115; Patented Aug. 2,1881.

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-- [UNITED STATES -v PATEN-T' OFFER.

\VILLIAM A. BAGLIN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

HAT-FELTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 245,115, dated August 2, 1881,

Application filed June 17, 1881.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM A. BAGLIN, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Hat-Felting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention consists in a new method of felting hat-bodies by placing said hat-bodies into perforated elastic felting-tubes, and exposing said tubes, together with the hat-bodies contained therein, to a repeated squeezing and rolling action; also, in an apparatus composed of a squeezing-drum which revolves in a suitable case, a tank situated beneath said case and communicating with it through suitable openings in its top, and a felting-tube, (one or more,) as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a vertical section of my apparatus in the plane at 01:, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section in the plane 3 3 Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section of one of my felting-tubes.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

In the drawings, the letter A designates a drum which is composed of two heads, a a, and a series of slats, 12, secured to the heads at short distances apart, as shown in Figsl and 2. I This drum is mounted on a shaft, B, which has its hearings in the side plates of a case, O, that incloses the drum A, leaving an annular space, D, for the reception of the feltingtubes E.

The bottom part of the case 0 is perforated I with holes a c, which communicate with the tank F. The upper portion of the circumference of the case is formed by a series of slats, d, leavingopenings for the escape of steam or vapor, as will be hereinafter more fully explained. a o

On one side of the case is secured a frame, G, which forms the bearings for two rollers, H H, which support an endless apron, I, over which the felting-tubes are fed to the annular space B through an opening, 6, in the circumference of the case. A pulley, J, which is mounted on the shaft B, serves to impart IDO- tion to the feed-apron I.

The drum A is driven by means of a pulley, K.

(No model.)

In the side of the case 0, opposite to the feed-apron, is a door, L, which can be raised to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and beneath this door is an inclined chute, M, for the discharge of the felting-tubes.

A flue, N, serves to carry off the steam and vapor rising from the tank F.

The felting-tubes F are made of vulcanized india-rubber, or of any other suitable elastic material. They are open at both ends and perforated with many holes. I Their diameter is about one-fourth larger than the width of the annular space D.

The tank F is supplied with hot water through suitable means, or the water in said tank is kept heated by steam, or in any other suitable manner.

The hat-bodies to be felted are rolled up and placed one into each of the felting-tubes, and then the felting-tubes are fed over the apron I into the annular space D, where they are carried down by the action of the drum A, and as they pass down they are exposed to a squeezing and rolling action, while the hat-bodyin passing through the bottom part of the case becomes saturated with hot water from the tank F. After a number of felting-tubes have been fed into the case 0 the motion of the drum A is continued until the hat-bodies have become sufficiently felted, the time required to accomplish this purpose being found by experience; then the door L is opened, and the felting-tubes are allowed to discharge over the chute M.

In order to impart to the felting-tubes a rolling motion while the same in passing through the annular space are squeezed, the circumference of the drum'A is formed of slats which act successively upon the felting-tubes, and as they compress them also cause them to roll, so that the action upon the hat-bodies is similar to that brought to bear upon them in the ordinary felting operation by hand.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The method herein described for felting hat-bodies,'the same consisting in placing the hat-bodies within perforated flexible tubes, and mechanically subjecting said tubes while carried around and rolled within a surrounding casing to alternating squeezing actions, substantially as set forth.

before described, of the drum, the case which incloses said drum, the annular space between I 5 the case and the drum, the elastic felting-tubes, the hot-water tank, and mechanism for imparting motion to the drum.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal in thepresence of two snbscrib- 2o ing witnesses.

WILLIAM A. BAGLIN.

Witnesses J. VAN SANTVOORD, E. F. KASTENIIU'BER. 

